Graham and Winfrey got engaged in 1992 but ultimately decided on a “spiritual union.” He was married previously and he and his ex-wife have a daughter, Wendy Graham.
And while Graham is OK with Winfrey’s nicknames for him—including “Honey Graham,” “Steddy” and her “rock”—he was initially less enthused about the title the public game him.
“They used to call me Oprah’s boyfriend,” the 75-year-old told The New York Times in 1997, adding wryly, “Some people call me Stedman now.”
After all, Graham has built his own successful career as a best-selling author, motivational speaker and CEO of the management and marking firm S. Graham and Associates. So, there’s just no reason for him to be jealous of Winfrey’s fame.
“We have what a lot of people have who are in a relationship,” he said in 2011 when he made a rare appearance on the set of Oprah, “and we’ve been in the relationship a long time. We want each other to succeed. And, you know, I want her to succeed and be as successful as she possibly can. So I encourage that. That’s not always an easy thing to do,” he admitted, “when you’re the man in a relationship with a very powerful woman.”
“And so I’m not threatened by her fame, or her success, or her money, or all of that,” he continued. “So, that’s who she is. It doesn’t have anything to do with how I define myself.”
